McDaniel College has begun a $3.6 million renovation to install a learning commons in Hoover Library.

The facility will serve as a central hub for students’ academic and personal support services, Provost Flavius Lilly said, and is expected to be completed by next fall.

“Libraries today have become about more than just books,” Lilly said. “They really have evolved to be more about access to information, spaces for collaboration, and tools for students to be successful.”

Renovations on the library’s first floor will be extensive, and books formerly housed there have been moved and digitized. Lilly said much of the space for the learning commons was previously empty.

The library will remain open during construction, and residents of Westminster and beyond will be able to use the building.

“There’s no real loss of services associated with this renovation project in the library,” Lilly said. “The library will operate as it always has, traditionally, in terms of access to books, resources, technology and so on.”

McDaniel’s library shares resources with the Carroll County Public Library system, and Lilly said the college is committed to collaborating with Westminster and Carroll County.

“Libraries these days collaborate a lot,” Lilly said, “and the more proximal you are to one another, the easier it is. If someone comes to the Carroll County Library and needs a book, and it’s not there, but we have it, we make sure that that becomes accessible to others in the community.”

Use of local contractors is another example of McDaniel’s support for the local community, Lilly said. The project’s architect is Derck and Edson of Lititz, Pennsylvania, and the general contractor is Morgan Keller of Frederick.

“When we contract locally, we keep resources in our community,” Lilly said, “which strengthens it. There’s a great deal of benefit when big institutions like McDaniel decide to work with local contractors. Then, that money stays in Carroll County, in Westminster, and that’s good for everybody here in our community.”

Installing the learning center is a research-based approach to improve student outcomes by housing resources in the same location, Lilly said. Previously, a student would have had to travel to several buildings to access resources that will now be in the same place.

The library will become a central hub for academic deans and student success coaches, McDaniel’s writing center, STEM center and disability support services, with library and technology resources nearby, according to a news release from the college.

McDaniel students receive academic support and advisement from academic deans, and each first-year student is also paired with a student success coach. McDaniel’s writing and STEM centers offer one-on-one tutoring and workshops for students. The project is donor-supported.

“It’s so gratifying to be able to build something that’s going to be so impactful,” Lilly said, “and to do it with the support of people among our donors and alumni that see what we’re trying to do and understand the impact that it’s going to have.

“You know something is the right choice when you get people behind it who are willing to put their own financial resources at stake to see it come to fruition, and that’s what we’ve experienced with this project.”

Built in 1962, Hoover Library was first dedicated in 1975 in honor of Dr. Samuel H. Hoover, a former trustee of McDaniel College, and his wife, Elsie. According to the college, it was rededicated in 1989 after renovations and a new addition. In 2013, the library added an information commons, student technology suites and a multipurpose meeting room through a state grant.

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